Watch How Pumas Fight, Keep the Peace, and Share a Meal

October 17, 2017—New video reveals that pumas are more social than commonly thought. Also called cougars or mountain lions, pumas range over much of the Western Hemisphere. Until now, scientists believed that within that realm, individual adult pumas kept to themselves, except to mate or to contest another's territory. Footage captured in Wyoming by Mark Elbroch, Lead Scientist, Puma Program for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, demonstrates that the social interactions among pumas are actually varied and complex. In addition to fighting, motion-activated cameras recorded courtship behavior, and, most surprising, the sharing of meals, a behavior. Through the footage and the tracking of GPS locations, Elbroch noted a system of altruism and repayment for a share in another puma's kill, with different rewards based on the situation.

Watch How Pumas Fight, Keep the Peace, and Share a Meal

October 17, 2017—New video reveals that pumas are more social than commonly thought. Also called cougars or mountain lions, pumas range over much of the Western Hemisphere. Until now, scientists believed that within that realm, individual adult pumas kept to themselves, except to mate or to contest another's territory. Footage captured in Wyoming by Mark Elbroch, Lead Scientist, Puma Program for Panthera, the global wild cat conservation organization, demonstrates that the social interactions among pumas are actually varied and complex. In addition to fighting, motion-activated cameras recorded courtship behavior, and, most surprising, the sharing of meals, a behavior. Through the footage and the tracking of GPS locations, Elbroch noted a system of altruism and repayment for a share in another puma's kill, with different rewards based on the situation.